Bloodline: Destined
by BellaAodh
Summary: Hikari finally has her chance to follow her destiny and save Harmonica town, however she soon realizes she can't do it on her own. Hikari X Chase
1. Unexpected Friend

Things were going amazing. Crops were in the fields, great weather, and most of all Hikari was at a bar. She wasn't an alcoholic or anything but Hikari always wanted a drinking buddy for the novelty of it all, but her brother had always been too overprotective to allow that. But now, now she was on her own fulfilling her destiny in Harmonica town and she couldn't be in a more cheerful mood only problem was that her supposed drinking buddy had stood her up, and her usual good mood was quickly dissipating.

"That bastard." Hikari muttered under her breath. Luke and Hikari started visiting the bar every saturday night at 17:00 before it got busy, to drink away the week with a night of relaxation. 17:00, it was now 19:00, a whole two hours passed when Luke was supposed to be there and she had waited at their table looking stupid. It made matters worse because no one else other than the staff was ever in the Brass bar this early. In an attempt to save herself some dignity she moved to take a seat at the bar and ordered herself a drink from the young cook who was busy preparing food for no one. Hikari rested her chin on the palm of her hand and watched Maya the waitress desperately trying to fan out the smell of some horribly failed dish she was baking in the oven to the far left of the kitchen.

"Goddess, you would think she was cooking hookers in that thing the smell is so god awful,... but then again she looks to raw." Hikari said out loud absentmindly. This random outburst got The cook's attention. He spun around to stare at her slightly bewildered, had that really came out of her mouth or was he just imagining it? Chase had seen the new farmer on a few occasions out in her field when he passed to work or at the bar. From what he saw she was a perfectly carefree, cheerful, slightly ditzy. Even the time they first meet when she was greeting all the townsfolk she seemed quite happily ignorant. Something so rude was the last thing he expected to hear come out of her mouth. She looked up at him staring, her head slightly cocked to the side with an innocent expression on her face.

"What?" She asked her mouth turning up at the corners into a mischievous smirk. Yup she actually said that, Chase thought to himself.

"No, actually." He let a laugh escape in spite of himself surprised by this unexpected personality quirk.

"Just didn't expect that coming from you..your usually a ditz." He said handing her the drink she ordered finally.

"Well, I don't really speak what I always think in front of people I don't know." She said not looking at him with a slight frown on her face, ignoring the "ditz" comment.

"Well you don't know me either." He looked at her as he said this and turned back to his work beginning to ignore her again. Hikari knew that was supposed to be a conversation ender but she didn't feel like leaving the bar just yet.

"No, but I didn't think you would be the type of person who would really mind." Chase shrugged his shoulders in response to her comment, a few moments passed and Hikari was sure he wasn't going to speak again and she would have no more excuses to salvage her night at the bar when he turned around to face her. He held up the dish he had prepared for obviously no customer since the only one there was Hikari.

"Your not wrong there, here since you're sitting here for no reason you can be my guinea pig." Chase put down the plate of food in front of her and waited for her to taste it impatiently. Hikari looked at it hesitantly, with disbelief that Chase who had never so much as looked at her, (other than when they first met) before was now offering her free food.

"Umm...are you sure?" She began prodding the food with the fork he gave her with confusion clear on her face.

"Your not here for anything else so stop being a waste of space and try my cooking."

Hikari took a bit of the food, It was much better than what she could have expected by far and her stomach automatically reacted to the food with a very audible growl.

"What were you expecting Maya's cooking?" Chase said with a proud smirk on his face.

"Oh no, I wouldn't ever insult you that badly, sorry I gotta get going it was awesome though...umm, my names Hikari by the way if you didn't remember." Hikari laughed and pushed the plate away and abruptly left the bar feeling a lot more cheerful then she expected to feel.

Chase didn't speak with Hikari that next week after their brief conversation, however he did start to notice her when she was around. By all rights she was a regular, clumsy dork, but after speaking with her Chase seemed to be able to recognize when she was thinking something rude or dark by the way her expression changed and her eyebrows arched. Whenever he recognized her hidden sarcastic side under her sweet exterior it always gave him a small smile he kept to himself. He wasn't sure why he cared to notice those things about her, probably because he usually found people predictable and annoying, so the fact that someone could surprise him like that was so unexpected.

When Chase went into work saturday at 18:00 there was no Luke or Hikari to be found, so he assumed whatever it was that happened last week had apparently ended their weekly drinking ventures. That was his thought until a very harassed looking Hikari made her way into the bar. Unlike usual though Hikari headed straight to the bar were she sat next to chase instead of her usual table she shared with Luke. Chase continued his cooking pretending she wasn't there until he decided he couldn't ignore her any longer since she seemed to be there to see him, for whatever reason. When he turned to face her she wasnt looking up at him, rather staring at her hands in her lap, her face red and flustered. Chase wondered for one horrible moment if she was going to turn into another Maya after he let her taste his cooking.

"Whats wrong with you _now?"_ He asked sounding very bored

"Luke...you see..last time..." Hikari mumbled incoherently trailing off.

"You realize just because your saying words doesnt actually mean your saying anything right?" Chase said his arms around his chest waiting for her to get on with it. Hikari sighed deeply and began speaking feverishly still not looking at Chase.

"Luke stood me up last saturday because he had a date with Selena and the idiot completely forgot about me waiting on him! I was still pissed when he asked me if we were still on for tonight so I told him I had plans to meet with you here instead because he ditched me!" Hikari finished in a rush her cheeks burning even brighter waiting for Chase's response.

"..And why would you tell him something stupid like that?" This time Hikari did look up at Chase, he was looking down on her with the look of someone chastising a very annoying child. It made her all the more embarrassed for her brashness, and still the more angry.

"It's not like I didn't know it was a lie! I just didn't want him to think he could stand me up without any consequences!" Hikari retorted defensively. This time it was Chase's turn to sigh. He waved his arm in the air to express him saying "fine" and walked away from Hikari and his cooking station. Hikari was worried that he was genuinely exhausted with her and cursed herself for her stupidity when he reappeared with two shot glasses.

"Lucky for you its unbearably slow tonight, so I guess I have some time to drink with you." he said as he set down two shot glasses in front of them and started pouring some wine.

"But you're paying for this of course."

"Sounds fair since I dragged you into this." Hikari let out a long breath of relief and couldn't belive her luck. It _was_ a slow night, hardly anyone came in, and majority of those orders were drinks, leaving Chase to drink more than he originally planned. Both of them managed to get a good buzz going. Hikari, chase realized was incredibly clumsy, she kept accidentally knocking over their drinks and even managed to stumble and fall over sitting down and Chase would have to catch her, he also realized he thought that it was kinda cute. Hikari's mind was a little foggy from all the shots, it was making her speak more openly (not to mention loudly) she could also tell the alcohol was having the same effect on Chase. He talked a lot more, and man could he be an ass, but in a funny way Hikari thought watching him use his hands to animate something he was saying to her. She didn't know if it was because of Chase or just the thought of getting to know someone new, but she was really enjoying herself.

"So do you like Luke or something?" Chase began to think this was the case, being that Hikari was so upset over being stood up.

"N-No! He is just supposed to be my drinking buddy!" Hikari said a little to hastily. Chase raised an eyebrow, he wasnt buying it.

"Uh-huh."

At this Hikari threw her hands up in defeat.

"Oh come on cut me some slack, I might have thought he was cute but thats it!" She was real flustered now and she was starting to slur her words together.

" And now?" Chase corked the bottle of wine, they didn't both need to get drunk while at work, slow day or not.

"He stood me up, I dont forgive people who treat me like that even if he forgot." She growled. Chase decided to change the subject as he started his closing duties, it was already 22:00.

"Whatever, Luke is an idiot anyway, did you hear that bell? That's the second one, every time one rings the town seems to get better it's pretty bizzare...I know Gill actually thinks its..." Chase's voice went on but Hikari carefully tuned him out.

"Mmmhmm.." Part of the rules was that no human, other than a spouse of course, was supposed to know she was the medium between the Harvest Goddess, Harvest King, and the humans. So Hikari feigned disinterest in what Chase was saying, he could belive whatever he wanted it didn't matter to her. Bells..bells..tapestry..church..oh, fuck! Hikari slapped her hand to her forehead and stood up quickly.

"Crap I forgot! I got to go do something, see you later, thanks!" Hikari barely turned her head to look at Chase as she waved goodbye and ran out the door. Why was she always running off somewhere Chase thought as he began wiping down the bar before it stained from the wine Hikari kept spilling everywhere. A loud creak sounded from a door somewhere behind Chase.

"Have fun drinking at work." Maya's voice announced her annoyance as she leaned against the door way, tapping her foot waiting for Chase to respond.

"Oh, give it a break Maya you don't even work here." Chase rolled his eyes and continued to wipe down the table doing his best to ignore her, but Maya had away of making Chase instantly tense.

"You were supposed to give me cooking lessons today!" Maya stomped her feet outraged.

"Maya, no one can teach you how to cook, your only skill is inhaling food."

"I can't belive you'd rather drink at work with some smelly farm girl then cook with me!" She sounded like she was holding back tears, but Chase made a point not to give into Maya and today was no different.

"People typically do enjoy having drinks over putting their fire safety, and poison control protocols to use." Maya heard enough and ran out of the bar. He made Maya cry too often he knew that, but she just wouldn't leave him alone and take a hint if he didn't, he was just too good at blantly pushing people away with rude the end though, despite everything else that happened tonight, his last thought however as he turned off the lights to the bar before heading home was...

"Hikari never paid the bill..."


	2. Recollections

Hikari never went to bed that night, in fact she never even went home that night. She spent all night skulking around Celestia Church with Finn, the sprite that followed her and helped her with her task of restoring The Goddess Tree. Getting tipsy and then proceeding with staying up all night outside was not a good combination. By the morning she barely had enough energy to drag herself to the Ocarina Inn for coffee none the less trek back to her farm to do chores. She knew she didn't have the heart to ignore her farm though so she dragged herself to the counter of the Ocarina Inn.

It could have been Hikari's sleep deprived state that was making her paranoid but was it just her or was Maya openly ignoring her? Maya made sure to get nowhere near Hikari and refused to even look in her direction while glowering down at her broom she was sweeping with. It's true Hikari didn't particularly like the waitress she seemed petty and a bit dim for her nerves to handle, but she never down right offended her, she thought at least. Collen began to list of what they had on the menu for Hikari to choose from. She could barely pay attention to what the hostess was saying and her mind effortlessly drifted off. She was reminiscing on her night and the revelation that she needed to gain wishes from numerous townspeople to fulfill her latest task. this meant she had to make more friends, why couldn't that damn sprite be happy with her friends wishes she already had? She supposed she could befriend Chase as well they did spend the night drinking together, and that was one of those things you couldn't walk away from saying you didn't know a person.

With her thoughts lingering on Chase the next thing Colleen said brought Hikari back to her senses.

"-And orange juice-"

"YES THAT! The juice and the Coffee!" Hikari suddenly shouted rather over excitedly.

"Sorry.." Hikari apologized embarrassed after she realized she just randomly shouted at the poor elderly woman who looked quite taken aback. Hikari hastily took the coffee and orange juice too eager for this moment to pass. As she left she couldn't help notice Maya now just staring at her as she left with her hands around the neck of the broom, her lips making a thin line. She must have figured out who the orange juice was for Hikari thought, but she owed Chase for not paying the bill last night before running off, and she remembered him talking about his love for oranges ( he seemed to think they perfect mixture of flavors and were naturally prepared) somewhere in their conversation.

right before the door slammed behind her Hikari heard something she wish she hadn't.

"Goddess, don't you think she smells? And her clothes-" Maya's voice loudly complained just before the door of the inn shut, closing off the rest of the conversation to Hikari. Hikari walked a little slower after that making her way to Flute Fields. It was a bit of a way, too long for her to dwell on what Maya had said. She was rather dirty and smelly, it was a given though as a farm girl she thought. She began to wonder if Chase would even want her dirty presence in his house. But why did she even care? She was just going there to repay him that was all, he could get over the fact that she smelled.

Soon enough she found herself at Chase's doorstep. She had never been to his house before, the only reason she even knew where it was is because it was right next to Marimba Farm where she had to pick up her seeds for the season. As she reached out her hand to knock on the door her ears picked up the sound of a light melody being carried from out of the house. Hikari's hand hovered in front of the door listening to the sound of the music. It sounded wistful like a soft whisper reminiscing of a time long ago that was now lost forever, a pure memory that no one could touch.

Was Chase playing a record or something? Hikari wondered as she moved towards his window to catch a quick glimpse inside. Hikari didn't expect to see Chase standing in the room playing the sweet melody himself on a flute. She watched him for a moment as he swayed slightly with his music his violet eyes downcast and lowered to see a world Hikari could not but could imagine by the sound of the music he played so carefully. Hikari shook her head to snap herself out of the trance watching Chase play had put her in, and headed back to the door. Not wanting to disturb Chase from playing, Hikari carefully tried the doorknob, and with a small click it opened.

Hikari quietly opened the door halfway and peeked her head inside patiently waiting for Chase to notice her. Chase's eyes slid to the doorway where Hikari was standing waiting to be allowed in.

"you know most people are polite enough to knock before entering." Chase said now facing her with his hands on his hips. He obviously hadn't been awake for very long, the apron he usually wore was laying on the table next to him and his button up shirt was noticeably not buttoned up all the way. The hairpins he wore in his hair to keep the hair out of his eyes were also laying next to his apron, leaving his hair more wavy and messy in his face then usual. Hikari was slightly abashed by his appearance and would have been quite unnerved if she didn't spend several hours talking to him over drinks the previous night.

"I thought I was being very considerate not interrupting your playing and all, you could be a little more grateful." She teased welcoming herself in.

"I'm not usually grateful to people who leave me stuck with the bill." Chase replied scratching the back of his head. Chase couldn't help but notice for someone so confident she seemed to be unable to look Chase right in the face. Which is when Chase realized his shirt was not buttoned up as much as he'd like for company and felt his own face growing red.

" Which is exactly why I'm here because I'm so thoughtful." She said pulling out some orange juice out of her rucksack ( cause that's normal?). Chase's eyes instantly zoomed in on the orange juice and his expression seemed to lighten instantly.

"Wow, thanks I can't belive you remembered that I love oranges." Chase closed the distance between the two instantly picking up the glass of orange juice more happy than Hikari had seen him yet.

"I didn't drink enough to black out your long rant on the perfections of oranges last night." Hikari said crossing her arms in front of her chest with a slight smirk on her face. Chase arched his eyebrow annoyed.

"This doesn't cover the bill by the way."

Hikari stared into his face trying not to allow his rude demure to intimidate her. She noticed two things at that moment instantaneously. The first was Chase was startlingly good-looking with his messy strawberry blonde hair and cold violet eyes, even more so when he was so ruffled looking, how had she not noticed this before? The second thing was that Chase was standing very close to her now, way too close. How had she not noticed_ that _before just now? Why was she even thinking these things now of all times? Chase seemed to notice how close they were standing too because his blush deepened and at the same time Hikari and Chase both took a few steps back from each other awkwardly.

"F-fine I'll bring you more oranges than." Hikari sputtered. Chase turned towards his kitchen leaving Hikari looking embarrassed to do what he did best to take his mind of something.

"Want some food?" Chase asked already pulling out the ingredients and cooking utensils.

"H-huh?" Hikari said clearly not fully hearing what Chase had asked her.

"You know, I cook food you do remember I'm a chief right? You did drink a lot."

"I'm fine! and I didn't even drink that much!" despite whatever Hikari was planning on doing next she found herself taking a seat at his table watching him cook anyways.

"Why do you love cooking so much?" Hikari wondered out loud, he always seemed so carefree when he cooked, Chase seemed to have some of the strongest passions and unlike hobbies in comparison to his personality. Chase was anti social and a jerk but the things he love like cooking was so gentel and nurturing almost sort of hobby, as well as the flute.

"hmmm...? Well I guess since I've always lived on my own, cooking was something fun I could experiment with and learn."

" Why were you so alone?" Hikari breathed, Chase's voice was calm but his body seemed to tense instinctively at the subject like trying to put a barrier of protection around him. She wondered if it was ok to ask but she couldn't help it.

"Because my parents are gone, I don't know where or why I've never known them, I don't know if their alive or dead. Someone dropped me off at an orphanage when I was really young and I don't remember anything. I started getting interested in cooking and it brought me an escape from that place and I ended up here to become the apprentice of Yolonda." His hands shook slightly now as he worked and his voice so soft it was hardly more than a whisper. Hikari had the crazy urge to wrap her arms around him and some how sooth his pain but she didn't know how, so she said the only thing she could think of.

" I can kind of understand that feeling a little, my brother left awhile ago, I don't know where to, and I left my mother behind and I know I'll never hear from them again." Chase turned around to look at the farm girl, just like in the bar the first time she surprised him. He expected the usual from the few people who knew his story, the: I'm sorries, that's horrible, you poor thing etc. He didn't expect her to return with her own equally heartbreaking confession. He watched her speak, her eyes were staring down at the table and she stumbled over her words, she looked completely bewildered she was voicing this out loud. Chase could tell Hikari had expected to keep her pain to herself and never had spoken about it to anyone before. Chase took a seat in front of Hikari and looked at her straight in the face his expression softened toward her.

"Hey but at least your cooking is perfect after all that experiment huh?" She looked up at him her smile plastered on her face trying to remain light-hearted.

"Not exactly I still tend to poison my self when I'm experimenting with some of the plant life around here and make frequent trips to the clinic still." Chase said a slight smile escaping his lips.

"..."

"..."

"HAHAHAHAHHAHA!" They laughed so hard together all tension from the moment was lost.


	3. Silent Feelings

Ok! So in this rather lengthy chapter things get serious, and Chase explains how I prefer my fanfic. Tell me what you guys think it's what makes this worth while!

* * *

Hikari had mentioned needing some more ingredients for some recipes she planned on using, and If Chase had anything it was cooking ingredients. It was the neighborly thing to do to help her out, and who could help better with cooking than him? That's what he told himself anyway, was the reason he was walking up to her farm at 6:00 in the morning. It definitely had nothing to do with that question he had wrestled with asking her.

Hikari performed her morning chores in a daze. After harvesting her crops she took them inside preparing her kitchen to test out her new recipes for yams she made. Her head was somewhere else however, she barely noticed her surroundings as she worked. She had been taking oranges to Chase as payment for the bill for a while now, and they seem to have established an easy friendship. She found she looked forward to her time with him more than her other friends Candace, the Wizard, the Witch or even Luke.

"Hikari!"

Her mind even lingered on him often after his company.

"Hikari!"

She wondered what exactly it was about him that made him seem so important, all her friends had qualities about them that she loved, so what was it about him...she wasen't sure she was brave enough to face that question yet.

"HIKARI!" Finn her sprite guide looked like he was suffering from multiple violent spasms as he flailed around trying to get Hikari's attention. Hikari about chopped off one of her fingers instead of the yam she was attempting to slice when she realized the sprite had been trying to talk to her.

"We gotta go see the Harvest Goddess!" he yelled frantically.

"Hmm..I guess we haven't visited in a while. We can go after I finishing cooking-" A soft knock on the door stopped their conversation. Curious, Hikari made her way to the door and was shocked to see Chase standing on the other side of her door. It was always her that had visited him before. He wordlessly handed her a jar of salt, oh, that explained it cooking she thought.

"You mentioned needing some earlier and I always have extra seasonings." Chase replied trying to shrug off his kindness. Hikari took the salt happily, she was badly needing more salt.

"Thanks a lot! Come in, I was just trying out some new recipes." She waved him in cheerily and he followed her to the kitchen. Chase sat at her small table in the middle of her living room facing the kitchen and watched her cook. She whistled to herself as she plucked her ingredients and mashed them or boiled them. He had no idea she cooked so much but she had at least fifty yams spread out across her counter top and her cooking station already prepped, an indication to Chase she did this often.

"Do you cook often Hikari?" He asked her genuinely interested, he was always serious about cooking.

"Of course! I pick my crops for the season specifically for dishes I want to cook, good dishes sell much better then just crops." Chase noticed a wistful gleam in her eye as she said this, now that he thought about it she did seem to be greedy with her money. How many times has her house been upgraded already? He walked over to her fridge to peer inside curious to see what else she might have already prepared.

"What the hell? Theres nothing in here but a tub of butter and juice." Chase exclaimed.

"Why would I keep things in my fridge if it has value. I sell everything Chase, everything." She looked at him so sternly as she said this Chase was actually slightly alarmed, then she turned back around happy as ever again to continue cooking. That was when Chase saw what she was putting in her concoction. He quickly went over to her and grabbed her wrist so quickly that he startled her.

"Stop, stop. Your doing this wrong her let me show you." He grabbed her hand and removed the lemon she was about to use and put it back.

"Don't you usually add lemon in this?" She asked looking up at him confused, his hand still on hers.

"No of course not. This dish is supposed to be sweet and fluffy, not ruin your taste buds and make you regret your life choices." Chase said scrunching up his nose at the very idea of ruining the dish with lemon accents. Chase hovered behind her guiding her hands and whispering close to her ear the directions to make the dish perfectly.

Hikari was unable to keep her hands steady, his breath in her ear was making her brain work slower and her hands noticeably shake. Chase seemed unaware of how his close proximity was affecting her, instead he was filled with content at helping her cook. He looked even happier and light-hearted then he usually did when he cooked. He smiled easily without restraint and laughed more whole heartedly. After she had finished preparing all the dishes she had time for, Chase helped her clean up the kitchen.

"Hey...Hikari?" Chase asked hesitantly not meeting her eyes. Hikari turned around to look at him, his face began to flush and he started to scratch the back of his head.

"You know..the firefly festival is today..Its one of those few festivals I like but its kind of awkward going alone. If you want you can meet me there and we can hang out." Chase's words made Hikari's heart instantly pound harder and a smile quickly spread on her face.

"Sure that sounds cool." She replied trying not to sound too excited over the invitation. Chase left the house the two promising to meet later down by the river bank in Flute fields. Suddenly Hikari remembered a certain black Victorian dress she purchased not that long ago for just an occasion. Sure it wasn't a date or anything, but it was a festival occasion. The day she bought the dress she was trying to bury the recent desires she had had to actually dress up, who knows it could make someone notice her..a certain someone might actually like the sight of her dressed up.. She shook her head to stop her thoughts from going any further ( a habit she seemed to have been developing) but put the dress on anyway.

Hikari and Finn made their way quickly to the Garmon mines were the Harvest Goddess was waiting. When they arrived the Goddess was sitting next to her tree resting up against the tree. She looked quite frail and tired and nodded slowly up at Hikari.

"Hikari, I'm so glad your here I wanted to tell you...there's blueprints in the light house to mimic the melody of the bell in the watery cave." She smiled weakly at her happy to be able to help Hikari on her quest. Hikari kneeled next to the Goddess and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Ok, I'll head down there right away, and that will be another one down." The Goddess shared in her smile her confidence in Hikari never wavered. Hikari knew she would be cutting it close to run down to Harmonica town to check out those blue prints and meet Chase in Flute Fields on she couldn't let the Harvest Goddess down she waited so patiently for Hikari to complete the destiny she was born to do. Hikari came here to complete this task, she had looked forward to this since she was a child. She couldn't abandon the Harvest Goddess not even for a moment, besides how long could it really take just to look at some blue prints to find a melody?

So just like she promised, Hikari sprinted down to Harmonica town to find the blue prints. However it took much longer then she thought or could have hoped. It took way to long to gather everything she needed from the blue prints and she was beginning to panic. By the time she started running to the spot her and Chase were supposed to have met at hours ago, it was already 22:00, she was supposed to have been there at 19:00.

Hikari ran hard dirt kicking up on her new dress and the hairpin in her short brown hair fell out-of-place. She felt herself begin to panic, Hikari had to wipe away the tears stinging in her eyes. She couldn't remember wanting anything more badly then this night and she screwed it up. She reached the river bank where the firefly festival was still going on but Chase wasn't anywhere at the festival. Hikari was still scanning the crowd desperately for any sign of Chase while trying to catch her breath.

"Hey Hikari!" Luke ran up to greet her waving at her as he went.

"Your not looking for Chase are you? He was here earlier but he left awhile ago." Luke looked up at her concerned. Regardless of what happened between them and his forgetfulness, Luke was a really a caring friend and looked out for Hikari.

"Oh no..oh no..." Hikari whispered to herself. She felt her dread sink down from her heart to her stomach making her feel cold. Luke touched her shoulder lightly his concern becoming even more evident.

"I got to..I gotta.." Hikari started jogging for Chases house. She couldn't belive she had stood him up. How could she do that to him? He was waiting for her and she never showed. Even when she got to Chase's house if he even granted her the chance to explain herself..what could she explain? She couldn't tell him she never showed because she was trying to save Harmonica town. She didn't even have an excuse to tell him. Hands shaking and her heart full of dread she knocked on Chase's door. There was a long pause before the door opened. Chase leaned against the doorway his arms crossed in front of his chest looking down at Hikari with disdain clear in his eyes.

"C-Chase!" Hikari let out a small gasp of surprise. He didn't reply just looked down at her waiting and she could tell he was really pissed.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I-" Hikari couldn't finish her sentence she didn't know what to say. Chase began to close the door and leave Hikari alone on his door step when she grabbed it and held it open.

"Please listen. I meant to be there I really did!" Tears began to leak from her eyes despite herself, and she couldn't hold back the feelings she had tried to ignore. She cared about Chase, a lot more than she wanted to admit and the thought of losing him here was more than she could take.

"Then why weren't you there?" He demanded coldly. Hikari started back at him silently pleading with him to understand what she couldn't say. He felt so stupid letting this girl get under his skin and get his hopes up. He couldn't explain it he looked forward to tonight and even trusted her and she betrayed that. She was such a fucking hypocrite getting upset over Luke standing her up and her she was doing the same thing to him.

Then he noticed how wet her face was and saw the tears streaming down her face. Now he really looked at her, she was covered in dirt, tears and sweat. She must have ran to his house he realized. He was also surprised to take in the dress she was wearing. She wore a pretty black lacy dress that was short and low-cut on her chest which made Chase blush and look away from her body that was more reveled then he had ever seen it. He knew then that what she was trying to tell him was true, she had dressed up to spend the festival with him, and whatever prevented her from being there she ran to here to be with him. He felt something inside him break, not a physical pain but emotions he hadn't felt before.

"Hikari..Why are you _wearing _that?" Chase said to her softly his expression easing up. Regardless of how he meant his words to come across, Hikari looked like she had been slapped in the face. She only wanted to look nice for once. She put her arms up in front of her chest to protect herself and looked away from him.

"I didn't mean you didn't look good or anything, it's just that you know you don't need to dress up to look good don't you?" Chase put his hands on her shoulders his expression was now soft and friendly again.

"My clothes are dirty..and smelly Maya had said-"

"I don't think its possible for someone to look bad doing the things they love, and that means wearing your dirty clothes from farming too." Chase interrupted her, he pulled her into his chest and she rested her head over his heart letting his gesture reassure her he wasn't mad. they stood there for a while quite. Chase exhaled a long breath he didn't realize he was holding, his relief that she was with him after all left him speechless, so he let his actions speak for him and just held her to him, and watched over her head the fireflys down by the river bank as the festival came to an end.


End file.
